Alma
Alma is Verus' best friend and fellow shinigami; to the people of the Seijin Order whom she, like Verus, is a part of, she is known by the moniker, Alma of the Setting Sun (落陽のアルマ, Rakuyou no Alma). Alma holds a secret origin that, if revealed, would lead many to seek her capture; this fact being that she was born as a half-human, half-hollow. Through this she gains many powers akin to a hollow, and after gaining her shinigami powers, she gained powers similar to that of an arrancar; with distinctions. Background Alma was originally the unborn child of a normal human father and mother; before tragedy struck the family. A hollow attacked the father; killing him quickly, he proceeded to try and kill the mother, whom was halfway through her pregnancy. The mother was spiritually strong and so by being able to see him, she managed to run from him. However the stress caused her to lose the child in her womb. The mother, realizing this, stopped running; her main reason to live gone. The hollow in particular had targetted the family because he himself had died and caused his wife to have a miscarriage as well. Drawing on this, he gave her an ultimatum; die now, or give birth to her child and die then. The mother agreed to this; trusting he could fix the situation. Drawing on his spiritual power, the hollow sent his reiatsu into the now dead child; managing to jump-start the girl's heart. This had the unintended side-effect of completely eradicating the father's DNA from the girl and replacing it with the hollow's. The hollow then disappeared; claiming it would return after the child was born. The mother than lived life normally as the child developed; unaware of what had occured when the hollow had saved her baby. At the end of this she entered labor; giving birth to a child whom appeared as a human; she named her Alma. After a few more days the mother, resigned to her fate, brought the child home and waited. Sure enough, the hollow came and after a few words, ate the mother's soul. Turning to the baby, he was surprised however to notice the baby was already spiritually aware; having noticed what had happened. The hollow then left; deciding the baby had a chance on its own. Alma remained trapped in the house for a time; slowly growing. Because her 'father' was a hollow she did not require sustanence as a small infant; simply taking any spiritual energy from the atmosphere in. Slowly Alma matured; eventually she was found by a friend of the families; along with the mother's life-less body. She was then taken in by the person and raised; going to school and managing to do well. It was not until high school that she tapped into her powers for the first time; accidently opening a garganta and falling into Hueco Mundo. The concentration of Reishi in the air caused a change in Alma; transforming her into a hollow, she entered a state of mindlessness for a time. She fed off the other hollows within the realm, before eventually managing to revert. Back in control, she found herself in the strange realm of the hollows. At this time she met Verus; whom was exploring Hueco Mundo. A human turned Shinigami, he explained everything to her, and asked if she would accompany him. Agreeing, the two forged on. Along the way Verus helped Alma awaken her Zanpakuto; eventually leading to him also discovering that she was a half-hollow. As they traveled the spirit worlds; as well as the world of the living, Verus helped Alma take control of her Hollow-side; allowing her to eventually morph between forms at will. The journey had brought them closer; it was clear that both had fallen for the other. Slowly they broke the ice; even sharing a kiss. As of now they have both joined the Seijin Order; having learned to use Seijō Reiryoku they can communicate each other across worlds and as such are mainly autonomous from each other. Appearance Alma appears as a petite teenager whom has fair skin, along with dark brown eyes with hair to match. Her clothing usually consists of what's suited for the situation, and a typical to many girls, has a wide assortment of clothing to choose. Normally however, her outfit is completed with a black trench coat. Personality and Traits Alma is a quiet and soft-spoken individual; even when around friends she rarely speaks loudly. In public she is withdrawn; when with friends she mainly speaks when spoken to. Originally, she often questioned her emotions, or lack thereof. As she grew and journeyed out; learning of her origins, she began to understand them better; leading to her being more assertive and determined. Still, she is usually serious and is shown to also be devious and cunning; however she is also a very kind individual who's soft-spoken nature can help comfort those around her. Disliking attention, she prefers to simply chat with friends in the back when there is celebration. Powers and Abilities Avian Transformation: Alma possesses the unique ability to shape-shift into a peregrine falcon at will. It has no time limit and in falcon form, Alma can still channel her spiritual energy and move at incredible speeds, though she is physically limited by the form. However, peregrine falcons are known as the fastest animal on earth; being able to fly at speeds upwards of 200 mph. In her hollow form, the transformation takes on traits similar to an Adjuchas form. Combat Prowess: In combat, Alma has been shown to, like Verus, favor countering attacks as opposed to attacking. She has shown great instincts and intuition in battle. She was generally aware of everything in his presence and also able to see through most deceptions. She is very nimble, and clearly as fast as Verus, but also can be brutal when she has to be. Also similar to Verus, she is well-versed in Drunken Kung Fu, an unconventional style that is hard for an opponent to read, as well as obviously being able to easily fight with a blade. Verus has said she knows very well the weakest points of the body, and she can easily torture an individual through that knowledge if pressed. Master of Stealth: Alma has shown that he is readily an expert in the areas of stealth and assassination; being able to infiltrate, lockpick, thieve, and easily remain undetected. This is helped greatly by her already quiet nature. An expert in this field, Alma has been known to even surprise some of the grandmasters of the Sejin Order at her mobility through her ability to appear and disappear without them even noticing. Master of Manipulation and Negotiation: Alma is sometimes shown alongside Verus as being a mediator in events within debates and arguements. Her perception is extraordinary, and she is able to easily guess a persons mood and guilt when she wishes. Elemental Spiritual Power: Possibly due to her strange existence, Alma's spiritual pressure is elemental in nature; being able to change through multiple elements as she will it; seperating her from others of such elemental natures. Through this she is able to easily play a role in combat as a ranged or melee fighter. Flash Step Master: Having a style of fighting that focuses greatly and speed and mobility, Alma is a master of flash step. Kido Mastery: Alma and Verus are the creators of a few Kido, as well as having mastered many others. Cero: Alma holds high skill with a cero; being able to fire it off instantaneously without any warning or having to charge and focus the energy for the Cero with a body part. Its color is midnight blue. Seijō Reiryoku Mastery: Through Verus' invention, the Shiantama, Alma is one of the fastest members of the Seijin Order to master control over her seijō reiryoku.. Due to this, Alma is highly skilled in use of Shiro Nagare; demonstrating telekinesis and advanced sensory among other uses. Zanpakutō Pajarito (パジャリート, Pajarīto Spanish for "Litle Bird, Japanese for "Bird of Prey") is Alma's Zanpakutō. Due to the nature of her existence she wields a blade with powers akin to an Arrancar's instead of a normal Shinigami's. Its full potential is only released when she uses this alongside her hollow transformation. When sealed Alma's blade takes the appearance of a regular katana with a black hilt; however the guard has two curved extensions on either side along with engravings; giving the appearance of a bird's wings in flight. *'Resurrección': Pajarito is released by the command, "Conduct" (行為, Kōi). The release is initiated through Alma unleashing a burst of her spiritual energy in the form of a wave; crashing outwards and causing havoc to the area, before disappearing and revealing her in the middle. Alma gains traits similar to that of a falcon; gaining large, black falcon wings on her back; as well as feathers within her hair and gaining an outfit that is form-fitting though not overly revealing. The wings can fold up tightly against her back when she needs them to. :Resurrección Special Ability: In this form Alma gains a significant increase of power; being able to easily overpower most foes. Her main ability however is the turning of herself into a 'conduit' for anything with a flow to it; anything that makes a path. This is mainly a much more flexible version of her elemental reiryoku. With this she can manipulate water, electricity, air, etc. This is a highly flexible ability; though she can mainly only manipulate one power at a time. She mainly manipulates wind while in combat. :*'El Relámpago' (稲妻, Eruriranpago; Spanish for "The Lightning", Japanese for "The Thunder and Lightning"): This ability causes Alma to call down lightning from the sky. The lightning moves as she directs it; ravaging anything in its path. Lightning is an incredibly fast substance, so only those with incredibly high speed would be able to avoid this attack. :::Drenaje del Relámpagos (排水雷, drenaje deru relámpagos; Spanish for "Drain of the Lightning", Japanese for "Thunder and Lightning Drain") This ability allows Alma to syphon electricity from things in the environment; including living beings. The drain from other beings seems to be something akin to a reverse defibrillator. The ability will almost always kill when used in this manner; though to use it she has to overpower her foe and grasp their heads to drain them. :*'El Diluvio' (洪水, eru diluvio; Spanish for "The Floods", Japanese for "The Raging Currents"): When used, Alma takes water from the atmosphere and swamps a given area with water; washing away everyone in the area to the middle. The water will then part and give the combatants a space to battle. Once Alma leaves the area, the walls of water will crash down; dealing large amounts of damage to anyone unlucky enough to be trapped within. :*'Los Incendios' (山火事, rosu incendios; Spanish for "The Fires", Japanese for "The Inferno"): Not Yet Revealed :*'Ciclóna' (サイクロン, saikuron; Spanish for "Tornado", Japanese for "The Howling Winds"): Now Yet Revealed Hollow Transformation Alma's special ability is to turn herself into a hollow; however unlike Vizard she does not possess an inner hollow whom she draws strength from, but her own being. Also, unlike Arrancar whom have taken away their masks, Alma gains no mask to speak of unless she wishes; stating that masks are formed to protect the naked instinct that is left in a being after the loss of a hollows heart; since she is also half human she has stated that she still holds her heart. In this way she has described her powers as more similar to Yasutora Sado's power, though hers is more complete than his. As a hollow, her hair is long and wild, and her entire body has become gray. Originally Alma had trouble controlling her hollow instincts of devouring spirits and this was used against her by some people; until with help from Verus she managed to control herself. Even when not in this form she possesses less significant versions of some of the powers gained through her transformations. It appears that there is no time limit or strain on Alma from the transformation; shown being able to stay in this form for long periods of time. *'Power Augmentation': While in this form Alma's spiritual and physical powers are more then doubled; vastly increasing her reiatsu and physical speed and strength. The explanation for this is the same as a Vizard's; since Hollows boost their natural abilities by obtaining spirit power around them, either by absorbing it in its ambient form or devouring it directly from another living being, Alma attains power from two separate sources: that from herself (drawn using her Shinigami powers), and that from her immediate environment (drawn with the help of her Hollow powers), allowing her to draw power from both sides. The main difference is that Alma draws strength from both powers through herself; not with help from an inner hollow. :Augmented Cero: Alma's Cero becomes much more deadly; the size, concentration, and pure destructive potential have increased tremendously. *'Instant Regeneration': Alma has demonstrated the ability to quickly regenerate any non-vital body parts; as such she only needs to worry about organs being destroyed in combat. *'Sonido Augmentation': Alma has been shown to replace her flash step for sonido in this form. This replacement does in no way harm her speed; if anything it enhances it. Trivia *Pajarito is the name of the most famous traditional origami model from Spain. *Alma's theme is Comatose by Skillet. *Alma wishes for a quiet life for herself and Verus. *Alma has been noted to be a picky eater like Verus, but she also has stated that she has no favorites, because every food she likes is for different moods. *Alma's favorite word is "Tranquility" (閑寂, Kanjaku)